UFC 100 Recap

Results

Last night was the biggest night in MMA history and it did not disappoint. The heavyweight championship was unified under the monster that is Brock Lesnar. Georges St. Pierre cemented his pound for pound status by retaining his welterweight title in dominating fashion, and Dan Henderson may have put himself back in the mix for the middleweight championship.

Main Card:

Brock Lesnar v. Frank Mir

You could tell right from the beginning that Lesnar was in a bad way walking into this fight. His eyes looked cold and distant in a way that would probably characterize someone who was about to enter a fight to the death. Unfortunately for Frank Mir, who looked fairly calm and jovial, this spelled trouble.

Mir, for the total of 30 seconds that this fight was on the feet, actually looked pretty impressive. Unfortunately Lesnar played it smart and took the fight to the ground early in both rounds.

He smothered Mir by staying chest to chest (he actually probably reveled in them) and doing just enough to keep referee Herb Dean from standing the fight up. Mir looked very puffy after the first round but not really any worse for wear.

The second round was a completely different story. I thought as the rounds went on Mir could slowly implement his ground game as Lesnar tired and got more slippery giving Mir more room to work. However, that’s when Lesnar turned it on.

Lesnar flattened out Mir against the cage, got wrist control, and just pounded Mir’s face in. Lesnar won by TKO in the second round. After the fight Mir looked like tenderized beef. In fact the beating was so bad that in the replay you could see Mir’s father trying to wave off the fight from his corner. Fortunately Dean stepped in and stopped the fight in short order after a few unanswered punches.

Lesnar and Mir got right in each other’s faces after the fight but fortunately cooler heads prevailed. Lesnar again reveled in the boos after the fight and actually flipped off the crowd. Lesnar may not be the people’s champion but you tell me who’s going to go in there and take that belt from him?

Georges St. Pierre v. Thiago Alves

This fight was textbook Georges St. Pierre from start to finish. He used his reach advantage to stick and move on the feet until a takedown opportunity presented itself and he landed almost every attempt.

He absolutely smothered Alves on the ground not giving him any space to move and completely neutralizing any ground game Alves had. Alves was able to stand back up once or twice only to be taken back down quickly.

St. Pierre unfortunately injured his groin in the third round so he began to coast in the last two rounds, otherwise I felt he could’ve finished the fight. He’s lucky that his star is so bright because almost any other fighter would’ve been booed for basically laying on top of his opponent for five rounds.

However, the fans love him and he stayed active enough on the ground with punches, elbows, knees, and passes to keep the crowd sufficiently entertained. St. Pierre won a unanimous decision winning all five rounds and even getting one 10-8 round. St. Pierre absolutely dominated Alves, who was supposed to be his toughest opponent to date, and cemented his position as the best pound for pound fighter in the world as far as I’m concerned.

Dan Henderson v. Michael Bisping

You knew exactly how this fight was going to go from the moment it started. Henderson looked so good right from the beginning you knew Bisping was in deep, deep trouble. Henderson stalked Bisping from the opening bell.

He stalked and cut off angles loading up his right hand. Bisping tried to fire off counter strikes but those didn’t faze Henderson one bit. Henderson landed some good shots but nothing too punishing in the first round.

The second round began exactly like the first. Henderson stalked and loaded up his right hand as Bisping unwisely kept circling to his left (into Henderson’s right). Bisping stayed in the pocket one too many times and Henderson landed a shot so violent that Bisping went stiff on impact as he fell to the ground. Henderson won by second round KO.

But that wasn’t enough for Henderson who wanted to take a little more out of the hide of Bisping who had been the thorn in his side the entire ninth season of the Ultimate Fighter. Henderson dove in with a brutal elbow to the jaw before the referee could step in that curled Bisping’s toes.

Henderson, with this type of performance, simply cannot be ignored any longer at middleweight. He might’ve lost his first fight with Silva but especially after this fight, he must get the next title shot at middleweight. Hopefully Dana White keeps good on his word about giving the winner of this fight the next title shot.

Jon Fitch v. Paulo Thiago

This fight went pretty much like I expected it to. Fitch used his technically superior striking to keep Thiago off guard and then he would go in for the takedown. Once on the ground Thiago looked good in the first round, as both men were dry, trying to lock in a couple different submissions.

However, as the fight wore on, Fitch just wore down Thiago and smothered him. Unfortunately Fitch doesn’t have the kind of finishing power on the ground to put Thiago in any serious danger. But he completely neutralized Thiago’s ground game while landing some good ground and pound. Fitch earned the unanimous decision victory.

Yoshihiro Akiyama v. Alan Belcher

This was the most controversial fight of the main card. Both guys stood and traded for the majority of the fight but it was not the smartest strategy by Akiyama.

It was obvious that Belcher was the more powerful striker though Akiyama certainly landed some shots of his own. Akiyama was able to get a takedown in the second and third round but wasn’t able to do much from there. This was an incredibly tough fight to call though Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan both felt that Belcher had won.

Akiyama amazingly pulled off a split decision victory with one judge even giving him all three rounds. In my personal opinion I felt Akiyama won but only 29-28. Belcher almost spoiled another big Japanese fighter’s UFC debut but it was not to be. However, Belcher certainly proved that he belongs at the top of the middleweight division.

Preliminary Card:

Mark Coleman v. Stephan Bonnar

Coleman earns an absolutely stunning unanimous decision victory over Stephan Bonnar. The scores were 29-28 across the board.

Mac Danzig v. Jim Miller

Miller earns a not so shocking unanimous decision victory with all judges scoring the bout 30-27.

Jon Jones v. Jake O’Brien

Jones keeps on rolling earning the submission victory by guillotine choke in the second round.

Dong Hyun Kim v. TJ Grant

Kim dominates Grant earning a unanimous decision victory with all judges scoring the fight 30-26. Grant was deducted a point for repeated groin strikes, but the point wouldn’t make a bit of difference in this fight.

C.B. Dolloway v. Tom Lawlor

Lawlor wins by a shocking submission, guillotine choke, in the very first round. He even choked Dolloway unconscious.

Matt Grice v. Shannon Gugerty

Gugerty also wins by submission, another guillotine choke, in the first round.